Chiss

With blue skin, jet-black hair, and glowing red eyes, the Chiss generally command attention in a crowd of other humanoids. Their skin and eye colors are due to a chemical reaction to an oxygen atmosphere, and the more oxygen contained in the air they breathe, the greater the intensity of these two features. In addition, the evolved changes to their eyes have given the Chiss superior visual acuity, even in low-light conditions. Occasionally their black hair will gray with age, especially in females. This is considered a mark of distinction in their culture; among Chiss, it is felt that the child of a parent possessing graying hair will greatly affect society. Other than their distinctive eye and skin color, there is little else to differentiate them physically from standard humans.

– Star Wars The New Essential Guide to Alien Species

• Csapla: resource management and colonial affairs
• Nuruodo: military and foreign policy
• Inrokini: Industry, non-military science, and communications
• Sabosen: law and order, health, education

The Chiss

The Chiss are highly evolved, taking great interest in art and science, and maintain a powerful military. In many accounts, they are described as pensive – contemplative, deliberate, and calculating – studying situations from every viewpoint and considering all the alternatives when making a decision.

– Star Wars The New Essential Guide to Alien Species

Imperial Alliance

As remote and secretive as the distant star system from which they emerged, the Chiss species remains a mystery to most of the galaxy. Completely removed from the Republic and the Empire, these blue-skinned humanoids evolved an advanced civilization known as the Chiss Ascendancy in the Unknown Regions of space. Despite constant political power struggles among the ruling class, the Ascendancy maintained strict controls over its dominion and the civilization prospered. This is how the Chiss developed socially and technologically in isolation for thousands of years… until they were discovered by the Sith Empire.

During the late days of the Empire’s exile, the Sith came into contact with the Chiss, and what followed was an event unique in the annals of Imperial history. In every previous instance where the Empire had encountered an alien civilization with enough technology and resources to defend itself, the Empire demanded surrender and capitulation to the rule of the Emperor. Each civilization refused and the Sith conquered their worlds and killed or enslaved the inhabitants. The power struggles of the Ascendancy are rarely solved with force of arms, however, and the Chiss ruling class surprised the Empire by considering the offer on its merits and asking for a summit. The Empire’s military leadership, confused, agreed.

Behind closed doors the best Chiss negotiators met with a who’s who of important Imperial diplomats, including the very unusual presence of the commander of the secretive Imperial Guard. Nothing has ever been publicly revealed about that meeting but the outcome is known and now wondered about by diplomats and historians the galaxy over. The Chiss would become the first official allies of the Emperor. Their armies, resources and tax revenues would be freely offered to the Empire. In return the Empire would allow the Ascendancy to govern and administer its own planets, and never set foot on the Chiss homeworld of Csilla without permission. Not one political representative, not one noble tourist, not one Sith.

In the years that followed, the Chiss assisted the Sith in the invasion of Republic space and earned the Empire’s respect and trust as military allies. While in Sith-controlled space, the Chiss submit to Imperial authority without question and a handful of Chiss have even integrated themselves into Imperial society. Nonetheless, the Chiss Ascendancy maintains its own forces, separate from the Imperial military, and most members of the species still retain their characteristic private ways, even when working closely with their heavy-handed Imperial allies. To the Republic, the Chiss continue to be a complete mystery and the species’ very existence is unknown except in high level political and military circles.

– Star Wars: The Old Republic Holonet

Chiss Ascendancy

As the only true ally of the Sith Empire, the independent systems of the isolationist Chiss Ascendancy occupy a unique position within Imperial power structures. Mandalorians serve the Empire for wealth and conquered factions submit out of fear, but the Ascendancy aligned itself with the Empire for mutual benefit. The exact details of this agreement remain a mystery to all but the highest-level Imperials and Chiss, but it effectively renders the Ascendancy a vassal state–self-governed, but a source of resources and manpower for the Empire as a whole. The Chiss Ascendancy’s internal governance mystifies most Imperials. The web of hierarchies and political influence networks that links the Chiss Ruling Houses is complex at best and impenetrable at worst, with political, family and military ties all playing a part in determining a person’s role in the Ascendancy. Internal power plays are common, but always occur within the accepted boundaries of Chiss society–even at their most vicious, the Chiss always maintain order.

– Star Wars: The Old Republic Lore Codex

Ruling Families

Chiss society is highly ordered and structured. Rule of law is controlled and enforced by a small number of ruling “families.” These ruling families, also known as clans or houses, are more akin to different branches of government than to actual familial units. As a rule, a Chiss will never knowingly do anything to bring shame upon his or her family, for entire lines have been exiled for the actions of a single family member.

– Star Wars Legacy Era Campaign Guide

Csaplar also served as home to the Ruling Families, who governed all activities within the Ascendancy’s borders (though an individual family’s influence could fluctuate over time, with the number of Ruling Families historically being between three and twelve).

– Star Wars: The Essential Atlas

Chiss society is controlled by four ruling “families” – not true biological groups, but effectively four separate branches of government. The Caspla clan dictates colonial issues, natural resources, and agriculture; the Nuruodo family (the clan of the famed Grand Admiral Thrawn) controls the military and foreign affairs; the Inrokini handle industry, the sciences, communication, and nonmilitary technology; and the Sabosen clan oversees justice, public health, and education.

– Star Wars Ultimate Alien Anthology

Chiss who have dealt with the Empire or the New Republic have almost universally been operatives of the Nuruodo family.

– Star Wars Ultimate Alien Anthology

Very little solid information has been recorded regarding Chiss life on Csilla. Familial lines and heredity played an important role in Chiss culture, with ruling families governing the Chiss Ascendency. The number of families fluctuated depending on the need of the times-as few as 3 or as many as 12. The family lines often took on specific roles. For example, the Sabosen clan governed education, justice, and public health responsibilities, while the Inrokini concentrated on business, communications, civilian technologies and the sciences.

– The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia

Culture

The culture of the Chiss is based on a strict code of conduct. As a rule, they do not attack an enemy unless they are attacked first. Thrawn ignores this imperative when he seizes contro! of the Imperial remnant, and consequently he is exiled from his people, Although most Chiss are peaceful, once embroiled in military conflict, they do not relent until their enemy is either totally destroyed or completely subjugated.

– Star Wars Legacy Era Campaign Guide

Personality

The Chiss are typically attractive, intelligent, and private people, and are so protective of their society that they have managed to keep their species’ existence largely secret from the rest of the galaxy. This isolationism makes it difficult to form conclusive statements about the Chiss.

– Star Wars The New Essential Guide to Alien Species

Many of the galaxy’s perceptions of the Chiss and how they behave is initially based on the personality of Grand Admiral Thrawn. As the years pass, it becomes increasingly obvious that all Chiss are individuals, and that Thrawn was an exceptional member of his species in a number of ways. As such, the impression of the Chiss held by the galaxy at large is that they are arrogant, aloof, and calculating individuals. While this may be true in some instances, Chiss personalities are as varied as those of any other species. In general, they tend to be well-educated, artistic, and cautious in their dealings with strangers.

– Star Wars Legacy Era Campaign Guide

The Chiss are technologically advanced, keenly interested in art and science, and skilled at mathematics. Though logical in their mindset, they are also appreciative of philosophy and interested in other cultures.

– Star Wars Legacy Era Campaign Guide

Chiss display a great deal of interest in the arts and sciences of other cultures, They study the culture of a potential enemy the way a biologist would observe the behavior of a dangerous insect with detachment and extreme caution.

– Star Wars Ultimate Alien Anthology

In many accounts, they have been described as pensive, contemplative, deliberate, and calculating- studying situations from every viewpoint. They often considered all the alternatives, even what might have occurred if something had been done differently.

– The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia

Expansion

The Chiss species has a rigid, disciplined society that xenosociologists attribute to the cold climate of their homeworld. They do not show signs of decadent or greedy behavior, so most relate Chiss colonial expansion to a desire to impose order onto chaotic nearby star systems.

– Star Wars Ultimate Alien Anthology

Chiss codes of conduct forbid them to strike first. (Thrawn violated this code by executing a preemptiive strike against the Outbound Flight project, a Jedi expedition launched just before the fall of the Old Republic. His exile eventually brought him to the attention of the Emperor.) Once attacked, the Chiss do not rest until the attackers are destroyed or completely subjugated, The Ssi-ruuk Imperium was all but destroyed by Chiss fleets after the reptilian conquerors assaulted outlying Chiss colonies, for example.

– Star Wars Ultimate Alien Anthology

Though the Chiss meted out violence to bring primitive or aggressive native populations in line, such strikes were always in retaliation. When attacked, the Chiss fought with measured, well-planned strategies. The notion of a preemptive strike was anathema in the Chiss code of honor.

– The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia

Aging

Scientists believe they do not experience an adolescent stage of life, but advance quickly to full maturity. However, this may be the result of societal and cultural influences and demands rather than physical growth, or some combination thereof.

– Star Wars The New Essential Guide to Alien Species

Age in Years: Child 1-10; young adult 11-13; adult 14-50; middle age 51-62: old 63-79: venerable 80+

– Star Wars Ultimate Alien Anthology

Homeworld

Csilla, the homeworld of the Chiss, is also the capital of the Chiss Ascendancy – a galaxy-spanning empire that until recently remained hidden behind the curtain of the Unknown Regions.

The blue-skinned, red-eyed Chiss are genetically classified as near-humans, and therefore are not believed to be native to Csilla. Yet ey have been present on the world since before the planet’s last great ice age, which trapped Csilla’s surface beneath a glacial freeze more five millennia in the past. In response the Chiss moved their civilization underground, carving warrens in the bedrock and exploiting ills deep geothermal heat.

The largest city on Csilla is Csaplar, which is connected to all other points on the planet via a network of subterranean tube transports. It was in Csaplar that plans to spread offworld first took shape, and by 1000 BBY Csilla had become the capital of the twenty-eight colony worlds of the Chiss Ascendancy.

The Chiss, who maintained a policy of not attacking unless provoked, nevertheless appeared to tolerate the actions of Thrawn, who mobilized his own proactive military force in the Empire of the Hand. Thrawn’s forces were responsible for decimating the Ssi-ruuk after Battle of Endor, something the traditionalists on Csilla could not bring themselves to do.

More than a dozen years after Thrawn’s death, politics shifted on Csilla in favor of a new radicalism. Fresh wars with the Vagaari shook the Ruling Family power structure, and Thrawn’s Empire of the Hand became absorbed into the Chiss Expansionary Defense Fleet. is new posture put the Chiss in a better position to fight the Yuuzhan Vong and the Killik expansion of the Swarm War. One benefit

Csilla’s higher profile has been the opening of hyperroutes into territory previously considered unreachable.

– Star Wars: The Essential Atlas

Descendance

Scientists also believe that the Chiss are descended from an ancient human colony founded in an age predating the Old Republic. However, they are sufficiently different from humans to be considered an independent species, as is the case with Zeltrons.

– Star Wars The New Essential Guide to Alien Species

The Chiss remain an enigmatic, secretive species. Their origins are largely unknown, even to the Chiss themselves, though some scientists believe they are descended from an isolated human colony lost to time.

– Star Wars Legacy Era Campaign Guide

Untouched by War

When the Eternal Empire’s violent rise to power began, the Chiss Ascendancy watched both Imperial and Republic worlds fall before the Eternal Fleet’s might. Rather than see their society crumble in the face of tyranny, the Chiss decided to strike a deal: they would freely give their two richest industrial worlds to Arcann as tribute. In return, the Eternal Empire would allow the Ascendancy to retain their homeworlds. This deal let the Chiss remain largely untouched by the war. After the Alliance’s victory, the Ascendancy easily claimed their lost worlds with the Sith Empire’s help. Though the Chiss claim to be suffering a resource crisis like the rest of the galaxy, rumors circulate about secret stores they’ve kept hidden from the Sith.

– Star Wars: The Old Republic Lore Codex

Force-Sensitive Chiss

Though incredibly rare, the Chiss have produced Force-sensitives among their people. There’s a strong stigma against Force-sensitives among the Chiss because many believe it’s an impurity or faulty genetics, and must be purged. Most Force-sensitive Chiss work hard to hide their shameful abilities. When a Force-sensitive is discovered in the Ascendancy, the consequences depend on the individual’s social standing and family lineage. A lower-class Chiss is exiled from the Ascendancy, while a social elite may be allowed to use a combination of surgery and medication to keep their powers dormant. Any Chiss caught practicing or weaponizing the Force within Ascendancy territory is executed without question. Chiss wishing to hone their skills must leave their families behind and take their chances with the Sith or Jedi.

– Star Wars: The Old Republic Lore Codex

Their keen mental acuity allows the Chiss to excel at nearly any occupation they choose to pursue. However, there are no known Chiss Jedi, and it is currently unknown whether Chiss society is home to any Force traditions.

– Star Wars Legacy Era Campaign Guide

Chiss Expansionary Defense Force

The Chiss Expansionary Defense Force is the main military power within the Chiss Ascendancy, charged with protecting the Ascendancy’s borders, exploring space outside the Ascendancy proper and assisting with Imperial military operations. The Defense Force maintains ground, air and space-based divisions, but is not intended to operate on Chiss soil–internal security and homeworld ground defense are assigned elsewhere. The Chiss believe that Defense Force personnel are the best-trained and most disciplined soldiers in the galaxy, and this claim holds some merit–Defense Force officers are held to an incredibly high standard of physical fitness and mental acuity. Imperial analysts point out, however, that these standards can only exist so long as the Chiss avoid the attrition inherent to protracted, large-scale conflicts.

– Star Wars: The Old Republic Lore Codex

Xenophobia

The Chiss are technologically advanced, keenly interested in art and science, and skilled at mathematics. Though logical in their mindset, they are also appreciative of philosophy and interested in other cultures. Given their xenophobic tendencies, it comes as no surprise that the Chiss use their understanding of non-Chiss cultures to gain a tactical advantage over potential adversaries.

– Star Wars Legacy Era Campaign Guide

As a species, the Chiss are disciplined, cold, and arrogant. They strive to gain the advantage in any tactical or social situation. Chiss who consort with non-Chiss never completely shake their xenophobic instincts. Around non-Chiss and other potential enemies, a Chiss remains pensive and aloof, constantly plotting tactics to ensure victory in a possible confrontation. After suffering a defeat or setback, a Chiss often contemplates what might be done differently to ensure victory the next time.

– Star Wars Ultimate Alien Anthology

Chiss adventurers tend to be nobles, scoundrels, scouts, or soldiers. It is unknown whether they have any Force traditions.

– Star Wars Ultimate Alien Anthology

Standard searches reveal no Imperial citizenship record for a ‘Raina Temple,’ but the usual caveats apply–our data on the Imperial populace remains sadly incomplete. Temple’s skills and attitude suggest Imperial Army training, but her presence inside the Chiss Expansionary Defense Force is extremely unusual – neither the CEDF nor the Imperial military is known for its transfer programs. Analysis: Personable and bright Imperial military cadets don’t end up embedded with aliens at the far edge of the galaxy without good reason. Temple could be a plant, but it’s just as likely she’s been intentionally forced out of the picture. Best-guess personality profile suggests she’s a typically patriotic example of the rank-and-file Imperial military–a true believer in Imperial superiority and duty. No matter how easygoing or empathetic she may be at times, the needs of her nation have to come first.

– Star Wars: The Old Republic Lore Codex

It doesn’t much bother Salana Rok when people call the Chiss woman an alien, as that’s what she’s felt like all her life–even among her own kind, even among family. The closest Salana’s ever felt to belonging was as hired muscle for a crime syndicate on Hutta. She eventually grew bored with breaking bones on that seedy planet, however, so she has since opted to turn her love of aggression into a career as a starship gunner. While often dour and restless, Salana is known to display an enthralling intensity and gleeful passion for causing her enemies to suffer. She doesn’t quite understand what she needs to finally feel at home, but she hopes she’ll find it someday out among the stars.

– Star Wars: The Old Republic Lore Codex

Language

Cheunh is the complex and nuance-laden language of the Chiss. Most non-Chiss have difficulty learning the intricacies of Cheunh, Chiss, on the other hand, have little difficulty mastering Basic, though most of them are unfamiliar with it.

– Star Wars Legacy Era Campaign Guide

Opportunity for All

Anyone can claim the title of “bounty hunter”, but the majority of these icy professionals are human. Their ubiquity allows human bounty hunters to go just about anywhere and blend in – but not blending in has its own advantages. Spooked targets make bad choices that can reversal their locations, something upon which Chiss, Rattataki, and Zabrak bounty hunters cheerfully capitalize.

– Star Wars: The Old Republic Encyclopedia

Aristocra Saganu

As the Aristocra of House Miurani, Saganu served as a commander in the Chiss Expansionary Defense Force and occasionally performed diplomatic duties for the Ascendancy. During the war, Saganu and his troops were stationed on Hoth to help the Sith Empire seize the planet from the Republic. Though it was scrubbed from official records, rumors indicate he also provided support for Imperial Intelligence before its disbandment. During the Eternal Empire’s attack on known space, it was Saganu who brokered the deal between Arcann and the Ascendancy. His cool-headed negotiation tactics allowed the Chiss to retain the majority of their worlds in return for abundant production resources for the Eternal Fleet. This deal earned him a promotion to supreme commander of the Chiss Expansionary Defense Force, where he oversees all Chiss military campaigns.

– Star Wars: The Old Republic Lore Codex

Dazh Ranos

Master Ranos has always walked her own path, turning her back on the Jedi Council to follow what she calls “the will of the Force.” A true champion of the light side, her journey led her to the farthest reaches of the galaxy, where she used her formidable skills to serve and protect those on the dangerous frontiers of galactic civilization.

– Star Wars: The Old Republic Lore Codex